Fit & Proper: How to tackle a sports injury

Frequent occurrence of common diseases and its growing awareness has underlined the importance of maintaining a healthy body. People, young and old alike, at fitness centres and gyms is a common sight. More people are choosing to run marathons with the goal of staying active and agile. 

The term 'holistic development' is being adopted by educational institutions, and thus, sports have found their way into academic curriculums. But the widespread rise in sporting opportunities and fitness activities is being accompanied by a rise in the incidence of sports-related injuries, such as sprains, ligament tears, tennis elbow, etc, to name a few. These injuries may affect blood supply, or at times, cause nerve damage. Pain is the most common symptom along with swelling and movement restriction. Injuries such as bruises, muscular spasms, sprains, etc are considered less severe and do not require major interventional therapies. 

ACL sprain and tear are among the most common injuries that occur in athletes in high-intensity sports, such as basketball and football. 

These injuries are considered serious because they can cause with damage to structures of the knee, such as meniscus, articular cartilage. Non-surgical treatment may involve use of braces and physiotherapy to strengthen the muscles and provide stability to the joint. However, surgery is often indicated to repair tears of higher grades.

Conditions such as Tennis Elbow, Golfers' Elbow may not necessarily occur in athletes alone. These may be caused due to repetitive movements of the wrist and arm in everyday activities as well. Similarly, Achilles tendon injury can be induced by everyday walking, though the risk in more in individuals who wear high heels, or have a flat foot. Conventional line of treatment for all mild forms of these injuries follows the PRICE principle (Protection, Rest, Ice application, Compression and Elevation).

Preventing a sports injury is not always possible. However, precaution, such as warm up and gentle muscle stretching should be done before beginning a workout. This increases blood flow to muscles and tissues thereby possibly decreasing chance of injury. In cases where a fracture or tear has already occurred, immediate attention is mandatory to limit its severity.

Sports injuries benefit immensely from cell-based therapies: Autologous mesenchymal cells are capable of self-renewal and differentiation. These cells are also known as 'guardians of inflammation', thus, any form of inflammation and resultant tissue damage that occurs in sports injuries can be treated with these cells. Mesenchymal cells are readily available from different sources in the body such as bone marrow, fat tissue, peripheral blood, teeth, etc.

The therapy involves injecting cells into affected areas and therefore no invasive surgical procedure is required. This ensures that the recovery period is minimal and quality of life of the affected individual is not hampered. In addition, this allows progressive and natural regeneration of tissues, thus the therapy is safe and effective in the long run.